Port Authority offers ferry service during weekend PATH closures

The Port Authority is starting a six-week ferry service to support commuters during weekend PATH closures at the World Trade Center and Exchange Place stations.JOHN MUNSON/THE STAR-LEDGER

To help PATH riders stranded by the weekend closures of the World Trade Center and Exchange Place stations, the Port Authority is starting a six-week ferry service between Downtown Jersey City and Lower Manhattan starting this weekend.

BillyBey Ferry Co., operating as NY Waterway, will offer $2.50 one-way ($5 round-trip) service from the Paulus Hook Terminal to the World Financial Center Terminal. The reduced cost will save ferry riders a few bucks each trip, and it’s the same as a PATH ride, the Port Authority notes in a press release.

Children 5 years old and younger will ride free. Bike riders can board with their bikes for an additional $1.

Since the Exchange Place PATH station will be closed when the weekend ferry runs, PATH riders hoping to get from Newark, Harrison or Jersey City into Lower Manhattan will have to exit at Grove Street and hoof it about a mile to the Paulus Hook Terminal, which is at the foot of Sussex Street.

This new service will run from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, with ferries scheduled to depart every 15 minutes. The last ferry will depart Paulus Hook at 9:45 p.m. and Lower Manhattan at 9:53 p.m.

Councilwoman Candice Osborne, who has been lobbying the Port Authority for discounted ferry service, called yesterday’s announcement a “breakthrough,” adding that there’s still more to do .

The agency says it needs to close the two PATH stations nearly every weekend this year, and possible longer, for federally mandated changes to its safety system.